Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absorb this film about crime, betrayal, loss, guilt, redemption, December 18, 2005
This review is from: Chrystal (DVD)
This story is so much about the setting, in the Ozark Mountains, where growing pot is one of the few ways to make enough money to keep your land, where men drink and drive as long as they avoid the downtown area, where rednecks clear out the fish fry for a fight in the parking lot, and where a bluegrass jamboree is a way to while away a humid evening. The scenery is beautiful, but everyone's isolation is tragic. The bar fight is one of the best scenes, with no professional moves, just a heck of a lot of slapping, kicking, and stumbling. There is nothing suave about the bar fight. The realism was beautiful, especially as Thornton's character let his arch enemy get a riled up while Thornton himself remained steady.
The movie starts out slow, but the action in the middle is powerful, and the ending is a sucker punch to the gut. The characters are vivid and true. This is a haunting tale about loss, guilt, and redemption.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"you can't preach the virtue of diversity and then try to enact limits upon it", January 21, 2006
This review is from: Chrystal (DVD)
I was skeptical when watching this film, but boy am I glad I did. This is one of those stories that touches the heart, maddens the mind, and numbs the nerves as we follow some people into their life and times in the Southern back woods of the South.
Yes, it's SET in the South, but the movie doesn't push on us Rebel flags, old Chevy Pickups, and Fried Catfish. The movie simply uses that as the backdrop for the various THEMES that we are introduced to, which all bundle up into one notion: Life is not fair.
Joe is back on his little homestead, after spending over 15 years in the pen for running dope back in the day. His wife, who now seems half gone mentally but still holds onto a strong spirit and singing talent barely acknowledges he's back. Joe goes about trying to build something again, but can you after so much time has past? Old wounds re-open, to show us some wounds never fully heal.
Betrayal, Mistrust, sleazy cousins, and a new beginning will all be seen by the time you're done watching it. Again, I was skeptical but now think this is truly a great American "tale". A good cast of performers including Billy Bob Thornton as Joe.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Southern Tragedy, October 19, 2005
This review is from: Chrystal (DVD)
This movie is kind of similar to Undertow and Monster's Ball. It deals with violence, crime, tragedy, forgiveness, redemption, and reconcilation. It's a great vehicle to showcase the relatively unknown Lisa Blount who managed to upstaged the rather low-key Billy Bob Thorton. Blount plays the title character who was traumatized and physically damaged by the car accident that took the life of her little boy. Her husband Joe(Thorton) was to blame for the tragedy, because he was smuggling drug in the car, and ended sentenced to prison for twenty years.
During the time when Joe was absent, Chrystal lives alone with her dog Precise in an isolated farm, and she occasionally offers herself sexually to the local boys. She's constantly haunted by the death of her son, and still angry at Joe when he came home. They no longer connect emotionally and sexually. At one point, Joe ask her," Am I still your husband?" She responded angrily and said,"If you just want my P****, just come and get it....". He's trying to seek her forgiveness and start over again, but the worst thing was that she can no longer have children.
The local marajuana dealer named Snake(Ray McKinnon, director and writer of this film) tried to persuade Joe to grow marajuana on his farm, but he declined, and things get nasty and physical between the two. Meanwhile, a travelling blind musicologist named Kalid is in town to gather research for his book, and becomes friend with Chrystal who used to be a good singer. This subplot allowed the film to feature many beautiful songs that resembles Songcatcher and some of the Bluegrass music featured in You Can Count On Me. Things gets even more ugly when Snake and his gang chased Chrystal and Kalid into the woods and want to gang rape her. Fortunately, Joe was hiding in the woods and rescued them. Will Chrystal be able to reconcile with Joe and let go of the the shadows of the past?
Overall, the performances are very good, and the actors delivered their lines with impressive southern accent. This film is obviously very low budget, one would wonder how they could get Billy Bob Thorton to be in it. I loved the soundtrack, and I also was quite touched by Lisa Blount's performance, despite not having seen her previous works.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
DVD ~ Billy Bob Thornton
DVD ~ Billy Bob Thornton
DVD ~ Billy Bob Thornton
DVD ~ Ray McKinnon
DVD ~ Bill Paxton
on 
